Jonathan Kellerman - Rage

“Why not?”

“The act was horrendous and I doubt making them C.Y.A. wards for a few years will rehab them.”

“Are they still dangerous?” he said.

“Would they do something that bad again? On his own, Rand Duchay probably wouldn’t. But if he hooked up with someone dominant and violent, it’s possible.”

“Any remorse on his part?”

“He seems to have some,” I said. “Was he thinking like an adult at the time of the murder? No. Would that change in five years, or even ten? Probably not, given his intellectual level.”

“Which is?”

I quoted the test results.

Laskin whistled. “What about Turner?”

“Smarter- a lot smarter. He’s got the ability to calculate and plan. Sydney Weider’s going to claim Rand Duchay initiated the crime and her client was an innocent bystander. The forensics say that’s not true, but Rand did admit striking Kristal, and his size could work against him if you didn’t know better.”

“I’m still on the remorse issue,” said Laskin. “Turner have any?”

“He talks about sin, claims to be reading the Bible, has a couple of theology students offering moral support. But I doubt there’s any serious insight there. He denies he ever touched Kristal despite the fact that Kristal’s skin was found under his fingernails.”

“Weider sent me an impassioned request for bifurcation. Looks like just another TODDI defense.”

The Other Dude Did It.

“Going to grant the split?” I said.

“Not unless I have to. How smart is Turner?”

“Considerably above average.” I gave him those numbers, too.

He said, “No diminished capacity, there. Adult comprehension?”

“Intellectually, he can reason things out. But he’s thirteen, which is an interesting age. There’s some evidence that adolescent brains undergo changes at fourteen to fifteen that lead to fuller reasoning capacity. Even with that, you know what teens are like. Rationality takes years to settle in.”

“Sometimes it never sets in,” he said. “So you’re leaning toward juvey but you don’t want to put it in writing because of the enormity of the crime.”

“I don’t think it’s a psychological issue,” I said.

“What is it, then?”

“A judicial question. What placement would approximate justice to the greatest extent.”

“Meaning it’s my problem.”

I didn’t answer.

He said, “I know teens are stupid. The problem is if we gave teen criminals special treatment, a lot of really vicious thugs would be getting off easy. And nothing in my experience matches the viciousness of this crime. They worked that poor baby over really bad.”

“I know. But you’ve seen Turner. He looks twelve. I’m trying to picture him at Quentin or a place like that and it’s not a pretty thought.”

“Small and smart, but he murdered a two-year-old, Alex. Why the hell would a smart kid do something like that?”

“That’s another question I can’t answer,” I said. “I.Q. and moral development are separate issues. Like Walker Percy said, ‘You can get straight A’s but still flunk life.’ ”

“Who’s he?”

“A novelist and a psychiatrist.”

“Interesting combo,” he said. “So you’re telling me I’ve got a dumb kid and a bright little sociopath and they just happened to murder a two-year-old. Any other antisocial history for either of them?”

“Not for Rand. Everyone who knows Troy describes him as cunning, and some people at the project called him cruel. He’s got a history of threatening younger kids. He’s also suspected of killing stray dogs and cats, but I couldn’t find any facts to back that up, so maybe the rumor mill’s working overtime because of the murder. One woman implied he’d molested her daughter but refused to talk to me about it. Given his upbringing, I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s been abused, himself.”

I gave him a capsule of both boys’ histories, including Rand Duchay’s head injury during infancy. “If you’re looking for mitigating factors, you’ve got plenty.”

“Prisoners of biology?”

“And sociology and just plain bad luck. Neither of these two had much in the way of nurturing, Tom.”

“Which doesn’t excuse what they did to that poor little girl.”

“Not in the least.”

“Have you picked up any possible motive?” he said. “Because no one’s put anything forward- including the cops.”

“From what I can tell, the abduction was impulsive. The two of them were headed to the park to smoke and drink when they saw Kristal wandering around. They thought it would be fun to watch Kristal smoke and drink. She got sick, started to fuss, threw up, and things got out of control. There’s no indication they were stalking her.”

“Bad luck for that little girl,” he said. “Okay, so it’s your basic senseless crime. I was hoping for something a little more… psychologically illuminating. But no beef, you were up-front about no promises. Forget the b.s. about cutting your fee. When the government wants to give you money, take it… there’s nothing at all you can give me about disposition?”

“What will happen if you certify them as adults?”

“Initially, they’ll get long sentences and go off to Quentin or a place like it. If I juvey them, they’re off to the California Youth Authority, which, nowadays, isn’t all that different from grown-up prison except the inmates are shorter. The longest they could be C.Y.A. wards would be till age twenty-five.”

“Meaning they’d be released at the peak of criminal drive.”

“You bet,” he said. “In big-boy lockup, they’d be vulnerable to the Black Guerrilla Army and Nuestra Familia, probably run for cover to the Aryan Brotherhood. So we’d be creating a couple of little Nazis. But most of the C.Y.A. facilities are gang-ridden, too.”

“Why’d you say they’d have long sentences ‘initially’?”

“Because if I adult-certify, there’s a good chance some higher court will lower their sentences and have them switched to lower-security facilities. Meaning they could end up with less time than a C.Y.A. placement. I’ve got the victim’s family to think about. Like you said, the best we can hope for is approximating justice, and Lord knows we’ll never get closure- whatever the hell that means. But there’s got to be something that does the least harm.”

“I haven’t seen the family in the media.”

“They’ve kept a low profile, but the father’s called the D.A. a few times, demanding justice. No one can give him what he really wants- his kid back. And two other kids have ruined their own lives. It’s a rotten situation for all concerned.”

“Beyond rotten.”

“Alex, they’re so damned young. What the hell turned them so bad?”

“Wish I could tell you,” I said. “The precursors are all there- bad environment, maybe bad biology. But most kids exposed to the same things don’t murder toddlers.”

“No, they don’t,” he said. “Okay, send me whatever you feel comfortable putting down on paper. I’ll start your reimbursement voucher churning through the system.”

In the end, resolution came the way it usually does once cases fade from public scrutiny: the product of backroom negotiation and the search for the least of all evils.

Five months after their arrests, in what the papers termed “a surprise move,” both boys pled guilty and were sentenced to the California Youth Authority until they were twenty-five or until it could be proven they’d been successfully rehabilitated.

No trial, no media hoopla. No need for me to appear as an expert witness and my check from the court arrived in a timely fashion.